Between Friends
by Hillside Dancing On
Summary: It was natural to be curious about it. Surely there was no harm in just...trying it out once. Right? Right. Axel, Roxas, Xion.


**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts, Square's and Disney's, not mine, please don't sue, etc.**

******Rating:** For shennanigans.  
**Characters**: Axel, Roxas, Xion.  
**A/N:** I'm truly, honestly sorry for this.

* * *

It had been Xion's idea, which baffles Roxas even now. But then again, he usually viewed her alongside Axel and his perpetual extremes of...yeah. It was easy to forget that she wasn't all soft blue eyes and soft voice and soft everything, that she had a little bit of a wild streak in her.

But still!

They'd all talked about it, sure. Thrown around the idea in the guise of being half-joking, all the while gauging one another's reactions. Roxas had always been partially ashamed when the idea stayed with him even after departing the clock tower, stealing into his thoughts as he lay in bed or the bath or the –

Well, that was beside the point.

It just seemed so...well...not wrong. After all, they cared about each other deeply, and it was only natural for a proposition like this to arise, right? Perhaps risky would be a more appropriate term. Going through with it had the potential to change everything they'd so carefully built up together, everything they'd been through. There was no way they could gamble with that for the sake of a cheap thrill.

And yet, he'd always stopped himself from admitting, he'd been curious.

More than curious.

He'd wanted to try it.

_Really_ wanted to try it.

Apparently, Axel and Xion had been thinking about it too. Because one quiet evening, when the missions had been dull and the weather just a little too warm, "what if" turned into "let's do it."

And that's how they got where they are now. After only minimal planning ("You can't think these things over too much," Axel had said), the three of them now hover on the very brink of rationality, those precious last minutes before there is truly no going back.

"So...who's going to start?" the blonde asks, trying and mostly succeeding at keeping his voice from shaking.

Axel smirks, but it's like he's hiding something; not the usual one he employs when being a smartass. "Ladies first."

Xion's eyes widen, and she makes a sound somewhat akin to a finch being squeezed. "You're the oldest, Axel." Roxas notices she's holding onto the chain of her coat a little too tightly. "Besides...you've done this before, haven't you?"

"What makes you say that?" Roxas doesn't dignify that with a response, and is grateful when Xion doesn't either. "Look...you guys, we really don't have to do this if not everyone's comfortable with it."

"I am," Xion replies quickly.

"So am I," Roxas adds. And then, surprising himself, "I think we've been building to this for a while. And if we don't...we'll always wonder what it could have been like." He honestly doesn't know _where_ that came from.

But both Xion and Axel are smiling now, and for some reason, that seems to chase away most of the nerves.

For a minute or so, nothing is said. There is the wail of a distant train, and they wait for it to pass.

"There's nothing that says we can't stop if we don't like it," says the fourteenth member softly. Axel nods.

"Not a single thing," and there's an almost-tenderness in his voice that Roxas doubts the rest of the Organization knows exists, that says he's going to do his damnedest to make this good for both young keyblade wielders. The blonde is reminded why there are no, nor will there ever be, two people he'd rather do this with.

"Let's just promise ourselves right now," he says. "When this is all over, we're still going to be friends."

Xion's smile is warm and shining as she puts out her still gloved hand, and Roxas takes it. "Best friends."

Axel chuckles as his hand joins them. "Always."

The sunset is beautiful from where they are, and Roxas looks up at them, as ready as he'll ever be.

"Let's do this."

And they do.

* * *

The aftermath is, truth be told, better than what he expected. Nothing crashed and burned, and nothing ended in tears. It's just warm and messy and satisfying.

Roxas wonders what he was ever afraid of.

It was with Axel and Xion, after all. He really can't stop smiling.

Then again, he hasn't tried.

"I thought it was nice," Xion says, eyes closed in content. Off to her right, Axel gives a leisurely crack of his back.

"It was different, I'll give you that."

"Shut up," Roxas says with a quiet laugh, the medley of flavor dancing on his lips not unpleasant at all – just different. "Me and Xion can testify how much you loved it."

"It's true, Axel. You did."

"Alright, fine. Here's the million dollar question...is this something we're going to do again?"

The silence hangs over all of them, growing more palpable by the second as they search for their own answers to that – and wonder whether they want to trade in what they've always had for what they've found.

"Maybe someday," Roxas finally says. Close to him, Xion nods.

"Not right away. We'll know when it feels right again."

Axel hums his agreement. For a while, nothing more needs to be said, and they all bask in the last of the daylight together. One last silence, this one drowsy and blissful, to be shared between them.

Finally, they turn to the business of cleaning up.

The popsicle sticks burn up easily in Axel's hand; sticks that until very recently had played host to bars of green tea flavored ice cream.

Roxas is only slightly sorry to see them go. "So, the usual tomorrow?"

Xion licks a dark green droplet from her wrist. "The usual."

Axel shakes away the ashes.

"Tomorrow, we go back to sea-salt."

~The End~


End file.
